Telecommunications executives have sent a letter to European
Commissioners claiming that established European telephone
companies are acting anti-competitively and making it difficult for
newcomers to lease lines and do business in Europe.
The letter, addressed to the Competition Commissioner and
Information Society Commissioner, was signed by representatives
from organisations including WorldCom, KPNQwest, Energis and the
European Competitive Telecommunications Association. The letter
outlines concerns over the pricing and provisioning of local access
leased lines and states that “these essential inputs…are as
important as unbundled local loops to the future of broadband
Europe.”
The letter also alleges “strategic incompetence” on the behalf
of European incumbents and claims that “they are discriminating
among customers and thereby abusing their dominant position over
the local access bottleneck in their respective service areas.”
The letter requests swift action from the commissioners in order
to “avoid stifling competition and harming economic growth
opportunities across Europe.”
